For the second consecutive year, the Detroit Lions have been eligible for HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series and now, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, they have officially avoided it both times.
Schefter is reporting that this year’s version of “Hard Knocks” will feature both the Los Angeles Chargers and Rams in their 2020 edition of the show, assuming there are NFL training camps open this summer.
Not only is featuring two teams an unprecedented move for HBO, but neither the Chargers nor the Rams were among the teams eligible for the show — in addition to the Lions the other eligible teams were, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Arizona Cardinals.
In order for this to be approved, HBO, the NFL, NFL Films (who produce the show), the Chargers, and the Rams all had to sign off on the decision.
Coach Matt Patricia and the Lions were featured on several “Hard Knocks”-like videos at this year’s Senior Bowl — including being mic’d up at Senior Bowl practices, the Senior Bowl game, and Road to the Draft: Senior Bowl — and it made for some entertaining viewing. But at the end of the day, this has to make the Lions brass happy because they made it clear in the past that they didn’t want anything to do with being on the show.